To Survive
by jamespotteriloveyou
Summary: "She'll be okay, Al." Frank whispered to her, running a hand over her hair. "She's my person, Frank. She's my person."- Lily is injured during a fight with Death Eaters. Everyone is worried, but Alice is frantic that she may lose her best friend.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any familiar characters or settings. Also, the speech that Marlene makes isn't mine. I was watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy and the speech Izzie makes just inspired this! So I hope you like it!**

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Alice rushed into Frank's arms as they appeared on the doorstep of their tiny country cottage.

"That was too close Frank." she mumbled into his chest. Frank stroked her hair and she closed her eyes. Voldemort-this was the second time they had dueled with Voldemort, the second time they had gotten away. Alice knew that on her own she never would have lived but with Frank by her side somehow they had managed to make it out alive twice.

Frank was about to say something but a loud _Pop_ next to them sent them both rushing for their wands. Alice realized that it was Emmeline Vance standing there looking rather grim.

"I am Emmeline Vance, my patronus is an owl and I am engaged to Caradoc Dearborn."

Alice sighed in relief but still worried-what was Emmeline doing there anyway?

"Now you two-go on." Emmeline urged still pointing her wand at the two of them.

Alice sighed again, "Alice Longbottom, my patronus is a horse and you tutored me in Arithmancy at Hogwarts."

"Frank Longbottom, my patronus is a lion and Alice and I were married on June 30, 1978."

Emmeline sighed and let her wand drop. "It's bad. Lily's at St. Mungo's."

Alice blanched and dropped her wand- no, she was wrong. She had to be wrong; Lily couldn't be hurt. She bent down and picked up her wand, turning on the spot and Disapparating. She had to see if it was true. She appeared on the street outside of St. Mungo's and hurried through the entrance, impatiently twisting her fingers while the mannequin in the window asked her questions. When she was finally allowed into the building she sprinted for the waiting room she had so often visited since leaving school and joining both the Aurors and the Order. Almost everyone she knew was in the room, looking worried. Marlene was sitting in the corner with Mary, who was crying, Remus and Pete were talking in hushed voices, the strain apparent on their faces, Doe was pacing the length of the room. Alice was quite sure that almost the whole of the Order was sitting in the room-the Prewett twins, Hestia, Caradoc, Dedalus Diggle, Adam, Eddie Bones, Kingsley Shacklebolt. Only a few people were missing. It was only then that she realized she had left Frank and Emmeline behind.

"It's Lily?" she asked when everyone looked up at her sudden entrance.

"Yeah." Remus said quietly.

"Are you sure? Did you see her? Because it could be..."she asked, ready to burst through the doors to the ward.

Remus grabbed her arm. "It's Lily."

"Oh." Alice couldn't seem to find her voice. It was caught behind the lump forming in her throat. She watched Remus glance through the window in the ward doors and she followed his eyes. James was sitting with his face in his hands and Sirius had his hand protectively on James' shoulder.

"Oh." Alice said again, feeling the tears forming in her eyes.

Marlene and Mary got up from their seats and the three of them hugged tightly. Alice must have looked quite pained because Marlene put a hand on her shoulder. "She will come through this. She _will _come through this."

"People die." Mary said sniffling. Alice knew it was the last thing that any of them wanted to think about, but Mary was right.

"I know people die." Marlene said closing her eyes. It looked as though she was gathering the courage to speak. "People die in front of us every day. But Lily will survive this. I believe-I-I believe in the good. I believe that it's been a hell of a year, and I believe that in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, we'll all be okay. I believe a lot of things. I believe that - I believe that my brother is always with me. And I believe that if I eat a gallon of ice cream and no one sees me, the calories don't count. And I believe that wizards who buy their potions instead of making them themselves are just lazy." She took a deep breath and then turned to Mary. "And I believe that you are a woman who made a terrible mistake leaving Sirius-your blood status doesn't mean a thing to him. And I believe that because I am your best friend, I can tell you this and we can be okay. I believe that even though you made this mistake, _you_ will be okay. I believe we survive, Mary. I believe that believing we survive is what makes us survive."

Alice looked at Marlene and nodded absently. She had heard her words but she knew that the feeling in her stomach-the feeling of cement and acid bubbling up, threatening to make her vomit onto the rug-that feeling wouldn't go away until she knew what would happen to Lily. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Frank standing there-she hadn't even heard him come in

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"Let's sit down." He said guiding her over to two seats on the edge of the room. The group returned to its stony silence, with only Mary's sniffles and Gideon's foot tapping on the floor for what seemed like hours. Alice didn't know how much time had passed, but at one point in the night Dumbledore strode into the room with Moody at his side. Alice felt the room tense up as if waiting for Dumbledore to deliver bad news.

"They are still not sure. Lily was under for a long time." he said solemnly.

Under-she had been subjected to the Cruciatus curse. Alice knew from experience that it was the worst pain one could feel-as if you were being stabbed with white-hot knives, as if fire were running through your veins instead of blood, as if the only thing in the world that would make you feel any better ever again would be death.

"Voldemort escaped. But, thanks to Mr. Black and Mr. Potter we were able to detain and capture Noxius Mulciber. If anyone wishes to go home, we will be sure to send a message about Lily's condition. If you'll excuse us, Alastor and I need to go speak with Mr. Potter."

Dumbledore bowed his head and lead Moody through the ward doors. No one left.

Alice slipped into her thoughts again and got lost.

"She'll be okay, Al." Frank whispered to her, running a hand over her hair.

"She's my person, Frank. She's my person." Alice said looking into his eyes for the first time since they had arrived. She could see that he was worried too, but she could also see relief in their blue depths. Relief that it was not Alice in that room and him sitting in the corridor worrying. Alice knew that was what he was feeling because she was feeling it a little bit too. She felt guilty-she always did when things like this happened, but this time it was different. Lily was her person-her best friend. It was almost as bad as if it _were _Frank in that room. She honestly didn't know what she would do if Lily didn't make it; but there was a small part of her that was relieved that she was sitting in the waiting room and not unconscious in a hospital bed. And the relief made her feel sick.

Frank nodded and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into his side and stared across the room to where Marlene and Mary were sitting. They were Lily's best friends too-they must be feeling like this too, she thought.

Again, Alice didn't know how much time had passed-there were no windows to the outside world so she had no clue if it was still dark outside or if the sun had risen. She only knew that she was too scared to feel just how exhausted she was. Sirius stepped out of the ward doors looking tired but relieved. Hope flared in Alice's chest.

Everyone stood when they saw him enter the room, waiting for an answer.

"They said she'll be alright." he said shakily, nodding.

The whole room seemed to let out their breath-it seemed that everyone had been holding their breath waiting for the verdict. Alice buried her face in Frank's chest and began to cry, all the emotions she had been holding in all night coming to the surface.

"She's okay Al, she's okay."

"Frank-she's my person. I-if something-she..."

"I know Al, I know." he said stroking her hair.

Alice sniffed and pulled herself away and turned to Marlene and Mary. The three of them hugged so tightly it was a wonder any of them could breathe. They all stepped back and looked at each other-all crying, all with mascara running down their face. Alice let out a small laugh and closed her eyes- they were all okay. They had all made it. Suddenly Mary turned and looked at Sirius. Alice watched as Mary ran over to where Sirius was standing with Remus and Pete. She grabbed his face and kissed him. Alice could tell he was surprised-Mary had broken things off with him weeks ago and he obviously hadn't been expecting her to kiss him like that. His shock wore off quickly though, because he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back with enthusiasm.

Now that people knew that Lily was going to be alright, they started to go home. Only Alice, Marlene, Mary, Adam, Frank and the Marauders remained when James emerged from the ward doors looking absolutely exhausted but thoroughly relieved.

"She wants to see you, Alice." James said dropping into a chair next to Sirius.

"Kicked you out, did she?" Sirius asked with a wry grin.

"That she did. I wish she would go to sleep though-it's already 9 o'clock tomorrow. She needs to sleep." James said leaning his head back against the wall.

Alice hurried through the ward doors, looking for the door with Lily's name on it. She found it and opened it hesitantly. When she saw Lily, she felt her stomach fall to the floor-she was full of cuts and scratches, there were bruises on her arms and her face was quite pale.

"I'm alright." she said quietly.

Alice felt the tears threatening to fall down her cheeks again but she willed herself not to cry-not in front of Lily.

"Oh Lil." she said hurrying to the bed to hug her, but she thought better of it and simply laid her hand on Lily's.

"Thanks for the restraint." Lily said laughing weakly, "James threw himself on me and it hurt like hell."

Alice smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Alice-I'm going to be fine. I'm alright, really."

"I know." Alice said thickly.

"Al, what's wrong?" Lily asked looking concerned.

"Lily-if you had died-you're my person! You're my person and you almost died!"she cried.

"Oh Al-come here." Lily moved over in the bed, wincing a little, making just enough room for Alice. "I'm fine. You're fine. We're all fine. We're all going to be alright."

Alice knew that Lily couldn't possibly know that but in that moment, it was exactly what she needed to hear. And in that moment, they were alright.

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**A/N: Hope you liked it! The speech is taken from Grey's Anatomy 3X16 (Drowning on Dry Land). Also, to everyone who reads my stuff, thank you! I love all the favorites and follows and views- they make me smile like a total loon :P But I would love some more reviews so I know what y'all think! **


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